Article Critique Assignment 1

Article Critique: Assignment II February 23rd, 2018 Student

Experiences of wake and light therapy in patients with depression: A qualitative study. International Journal of Mental Health Nursing

Kragh, M., Møller, D. N., Wihlborg, C. S., Martiny, K., Larsen, E. R., Videbech, P., & Lindhardt, T. (2017). Experiences of wake and light therapy in patients with depression: A qualitative study. International Journal Of Mental Health Nursing, 26(2), 170-180. Summary

Researcher’s for this study designed a qualitative methodology approach. (Kragh et al. 2017) Thirteen participants diagnosed with moderate-to-severe depression were used. Individual interviews were done by a nurse who was previously known to the patients. This particular nurse happened to be the first author. Participants were asked to keep up with a diary, which the first author would read and use as notes to prompt individuals for more discussion later. Interviews would primary be done at the end of a 9-week period. These 17 individual interviews were conducted in a familiar place to the participants. A guide was devised to propose interview questions. Open and closed ended questions were used. Data was then recorded. (Kragh et al. 2017)

The data was collected and analyzed. (Figure 1) Several other researchers worked with the first author in this study by analyzing the data. The other researcher’s challenged the first author’s interpretation of the data. Together, the authors came up with an interpretation. Qualitative content analysis was used to evaluate the data. (Kragh et al. 2017) The study concluded that in general the participants benefited from the therapies. One main theme was identified, and that was that participants had an overall positive encounter with the therapy and intervention. (Kragh et al. 2017) Four sub themes were identified as well, which related to this positivism, however also reflected certain negative aspects. (Figure 2)

Critique

Depression is a major issue that many people are dealing with today. Depression is the world’s leading disability. (Kragh et al. 2017) While this may seem debilitating, there are many treatments to help those with this illness. Wake therapy is a sleeping treatment where patients are kept awake for a whole night and then the following day as well. Wake therapy is one of those treatments that has been proven to reduce symptoms in a matter of hours. Wake therapy tends to be paired with chronotherapeutic interventions which helps prevent depressive symptoms from returning. (Kragh et al. 2017) This article discusses a qualitative study done over wake therapy paired with the specific chronotherapeutic intervention, light therapy. This study is interesting to me as an interior design major, because behavioral healthcare design is becoming more and more

popular. This is most likely an effect of the increased research that has been provided over these subjects. Since depression is seemingly becoming a bigger and bigger issue, it must be taken into account more. As an interior designer, I must always keep the user in mind. Those who will be using the space that I create for them will be affected by whatever environment I design. I must put myself in the shoes of those who I will be designing for. As someone who has a mental health condition themselves, this is an issue that is easy to empathize with. Empathic design is something I am very interested in, so this information could be significant research information keep in mind for my future designs. The authors of this research study created a clear and definitive need for this study. They clearly defined what depression is, and how many people it affects. The authors then provided examples of statistics on depression. This build-up lead into a detailed explanation of what wake therapy and light therapy interventions is. The author’s also described the research that is out today on such topics. They critiqued the studies that have already been done, and explained what they wanted to achieve. The authors were clear and to the point.

The author’s also made sure to control for a wide range of variables, which helped upstand the validity of this study. Depression has many uncontrollable variables, yet many methods were used to help prevent a bias with those uncontrollable variables. The authors were very picky with who they chose as participants. They did not allow those who had “severe suicidal ideation, panic anxiety and personality disorder, drug or alcohol abuse, psychotic disorder, pregnancy, glaucoma, epilepsy, and electroconvulsive therapy” to participate. (Kragh et al. 2017) In addition, the author’s made sure to be as inclusive as they could. They made sure that even though they had patients who had a depressive order as a part of a bipolar disorder, their “high” moods were adjusted for with mood-stabilizing therapy. (Kragh et al. 2017) The authors thoroughness helps justify their study.

While this study was very thorough, a key part could be portrayed as prejudiced. Since the participants knew the main interviewer previously, there is potential for those responses to have been swayed for many reasons. Allowing the study to be done by someone familiar was meant to help participants open up, however, it could have also made participants do the complete opposite. The first author was a nurse of the hospital ward chosen, so how participants felt about that first author previously, could have affected their responses. The first author could have also had a bias in what they documented in relation to their own preconceptions. If I were to continue this study, I would do several things differently to assist in guaranteeing validity of the study. I would choose a site that is impartial to me. This way my results will not be seen as biased. To ensure that this study has a distinct focus I would consider more variables. I would not include patients with bipolar disorder. I would also restrict the age gap to be smaller, or to include several smaller studies with specific age groups. I would also consider using people who have had a shorter history of depression. A major theme that was seen was that the patients were nervous about this recovery option. If that fear could be eliminated or reduced, different results may have been reflected. Continuing this study would be interesting to

me because I want to find out more specific information on how these concepts can be included in interior environments; questions related to the interior’s elements would be used to conduct my research. Figures

Figure 1. Data collected and analyzed by this study. This table provides background information on participants and their emotional state. Kragh, M., Møller, D. N., Wihlborg, C. S., Martiny, K., Larsen, E. R., Videbech, P., & Lindhardt, T. Experiences of wake and light therapy in patients with depression: A qualitative study. International Journal of Mental Health Nursing, 2017. p. 172.

Figure 2. This picture shows the four sub-themes identified by this study under the main theme. Kragh, M., Møller, D. N., Wihlborg, C. S., Martiny, K., Larsen, E. R., Videbech, P., &

Lindhardt, T. Experiences of wake and light therapy in patients with depression: A qualitative study. International Journal of Mental Health Nursing, 2017. p. 174.